The present invention generally relates to a system and method for distribution of four dimensional (4D) information, or 4DHelp information, to users, and more specifically to on-demand and real-time transmission of time-sensitive and useful self-help data which enable innovative and complex user interactions with the 4DHelp information, along with an additional set of data pertaining to the self-help data that may be of potential interest to the users, such as advertising and business listings.
Currently, there exist many self-help mechanisms that attempt to expedite a user's problem-solving process by providing information relating to the user's problem, or product, at hand. For example, desktop help menus are designed to be searchable by topic, so that a user can access information pertaining to a specific subject matter or owner's manuals containing voluminous product information are provided to users for future reference when they purchase products. However, these systems fail to fully meet a user's problem-solving requirement in today's mobile and demanding consumer environment because they typically provide static information mostly in the form of two dimensional (2D) flat printed materials that cannot dynamically adapt to the user's needs in real-time and in a manner that is most suitable and convenient for the user.
Existing self-help systems only provide generalized, static (2D), and potentially obsolete information that is not customized to the user's specific needs. For example, a printed user manual provides a generalized instruction tool for the user to navigate for finding specific information, such as how to perform a particular function on a motor vehicle. This information is usually text information, printed figures, or other non-interactive materials. As a further example, an electronic help menu may be text and some related static figures, but does not include active video or interactive three dimensional instructional materials that are in motion, such as 4DHelp information. Additionally, these static manuals, as they are updated, the old manuals must be discarded or replaced as being obsolete, thereby wasting significant amounts of paper, ink and associated costs.
These existing systems cannot intelligently understand or anticipate the user's potential interest so that the systems also fail to provide additional information that could be of significant value to the user. For example, while some existing systems provide repair instructions to users, they do not have the ability to determine that the users may also be interested in business listings for repair services in addition to the instructions.
Existing self-help systems are inherently static (2D) in nature, only providing a one-way communication between the user and the information. That is, once the user requests a set of information and receives the requested materials, the user's interactive experience ends, and the user cannot immediately make additional inquiries pertaining to a subset data of the requested materials. Should the user need further specific information, the user must then resort to additional sources, such as researching through a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, calling a help line to talk to a customer service representative, or employing other techniques for finding the additional information.
Current self-help systems may also lack time-sensitivity. For example, because a user may not carry along a digital camera's owner's manual, when a problem with a digital camera occurs, the user must either blindly figure out the problem or delay use of the product until the manual can be referenced. In other situations where an electronic device may include an electronic copy of the user manual or help menu on the device, for example a laptop computer or a mobile phone, the user is still limited to the existing static (2D) help data on the device.
There currently exists mobile user assistance techniques, but these solutions fail to provide interactive three dimensional capability. One example of a mobile user assistance technique is an in-vehicle navigation system that uses a GPS device to monitor and track a vehicle position relative to a database of routing information. This system uses a static 2D flat topographical map and tracks the vehicle progress on the map. The user is provided limited interaction based on the visual feedback of watching the vehicle position updated on the screen, but is not afforded direct interactive capabilities in a 3D environment, but are rather specifically limited to 2D static maps.
There also exists three dimensional assistance guides, but these lack mobility, interactivity, and timeliness. For example, an item might come with a “how to” video, but these videos by their very nature are static and lacking interactivity. As with manuals, they also lack portability such that the user must have the item or access to the item in a time-sensitive manner to retrieve the requested information. As the complexity of electronics, consumer items and other elements of the modern world increase, so does the complexity of usability of these items. There currently does not exist a proficient system combining the various elements and techniques to thereby provide interactive 4DHelp information and pertinent sub-information to users operating in a mobile environment.